Florida, denied unemployment because i quit a temporary agency

by Annonymous
(Delray Beach, Florida, USA)

I was with a temp agency and decided that as work was not as forthcoming due to the economy, that I would accept a part time position with a law firm 20hrs per week at a rate lower than the rate i was getting with the agency because i wanted regular income and the pay was the same as being on unemployment. I had to pay $6 per day gas and toll and it took 45 mins each way to get to work. I just wanted to not be on unemployment. The law firm changed the hrs from 10:30 to 9:30 start until 3:30. I was hired as a transcriptionist and was doing other work besides that. I also was not given any breaks at all, expected to work 6 hrs without a break, unless i took one and it was not paid for. I also got reprimanded for having a snack at my desk, never left my desk all day, except to go to the bathroom. Then the office manager asked me what i was doing all day, (she had been checking the computer to see what i had inputted). Then she said if I didn't do more work, i could be fired. That this was just a trial job. The temp agency has denied my claim.

Hi Anonymous,

You are talking about two separate employments here.

The temp agency did not deny your unemployment, but the state did.

I'm assuming you were fired from the law office job and tried to reopen your claim and have been denied because the temp agency is now claiming you quit your job versus a lack of work.

Please help me out and let me know precisely what the determination says. It would also be helpful to know how long you worked for the law firm, and if you continued to make yourself available for work from the temp agency the other 20 hours a week.

Did you notify the temp agency of your new hours of availability for work and did you refuse any assignments offered for these hours?

When did your current benefit year begin?

I would really like to help you figure out what is going on, but there just isn't enough detail here. When a person works for a temp agency .. it confuses things .. even for me.

Because of the very nature of the employment being temporary, temp agencies aggressively fight unemployment. This does not mean you can't fight back and win .. it just means you need to consider more factors.

Comments for Florida, denied unemployment because i quit a temporary agency

Even though the "new" base period will include the wages earned from the temp agency, it is the separation from this law firm that disqualifies you because they have determined you quit without good cause attributable to the employer, but any employer in your base period has a stake in whether you collect unemployment or not.

It may be the wages from previous employment that determine monetary eligibility and your weekly benefit amount, but it is the separation from the last employment that determines whether you'll get those benefits.

In other words, once it is decided that you have filed a valid claim, earned qualifying wages in your base period, and that you are able and available and searching for work ... the last step is to make sure that you lost your last job through no fault of your own. This is the "nonmonetary determination" and even if everything else is AOK, a denial will put a halt to any compensation.

When you get the determination, take note of which employer is listed. This is important because your reasons for separation from the temp agency and the law firm are different.

When someone has more that one job, it is not uncommon to have more than one determination to deal with.

For instance, in your case, if you do not overcome any issue the temp agency tries to throw in your path such as a VQ without good cause,

(which could be a problem due to this provision about leaving to accept other work: quit must have been from temporary employerwith the purpose of returning to work immediately when recalled by worker?s former permanent employing unit that temporarily terminatedclaimant within the previous 6 calendar months)

But you do prove that your voluntary quit from the law firm was with good cause, it won't matter because Florida has a disqualification for voluntary quits which require you to go back to work and earn 17 times your weekly benefit amount in subsequent employment to purge the disqualification and then have a qualifying separation from that subsequent employment. If you don't do this ... it's unlikely you'll be able to qualify monetarily.

My suggestion is you just take it one step at a time. Wait for the determ. and if you have questions then .. come on back and I'll be more than willing to help with what I think would be best to focus on first. Right now, the discussion is to scattered and I'm speculating about "possible" scenarios .. nothing concrete.

Apr 07, 2009Rating

issuesby: Anonymous

In response to issues 1) I was not fired from the law firm, I quit because of the office manager saying one thing and doing another, i.e. start time changed, no benefits at all, which was supposed to be part of the package as I agreed to work for a low salary in order to have a regular income each week; 2) worked for only four weeks for only 20 hrs starting at 9:30 which was changed from 10:30 and left at 3:30 or later depending on work load so had no chance to work elsewhere. The agency was paid a lump sum in order to release me and I informed them when things were not as they were supposed to be, i.e. was not just doing transcription work, but other work which was not my job description, but did it anyway. Benefit year began March 09. I had been filing for unemployment for over a year because the prior law firm was taken over by another law firm and I opened up my claim but worked quite a bit for the agency -- hence when I worked did not get unemployment and so it went on and on. Then when that claim finished, they opened up this claim against the temp agency and I have not had it in writing that they have denied the claim or the statute referring to the denial, but the girl called me on the phone and said they will deny it and write to me within five days. I am therefore, preparing for an appeal.

My comments went over the word limit. I'll answer in a separate comment here.